Uncharted
by PoisonPrayer
Summary: "It's been a while since I've had dinner brought to me," I joked as I jumped to my feet, earning a hard stare from Alice. "I'm joking Alice. I won't hurt her, I promise." I grinned showing my razor sharp teeth. First fic and I suck at summaries
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, I'm new to the writing world, and thought I would give it ago. I'm completely scared to post this, and join the ranks of some really talented authors on here. After one too many ciders, I decided to bite the bullet and post this. **

**I would love to hear your thoughts, (if anyone reads it) and constructive criticism is always welcome, but please be kind. And no flamers please. **

**No beta or prereader. So, I'm sorry for any mistakes that are made. As I've said, I'm completely knew to this, and therefore I don't know anyone who does either. If anyone would like to help, please feel free to drop my a PM…Promise, I will try and work on all my nasty mistakes. **

**I have about six chapters of this so far, and I plan, (If anyone likes it) to post once a week. **

**Anyway, I'm gonna go and hide and panic over this.**

* * *

"_Jasper, come with me," Peter stared at me, no signs of any new scars from battles he may have had over the last few days. He could clearly see the latest additions to my collection, healed, but fresh looking around my neck. "Major, you don't want this life anymore. You haven't for a long time."_

_"Captain..." I began only to be cut off by Peter._

_"You let me and Charlotte go. Five years ago, you let us run. I knew you could catch us, and I knew if you caught me I would more than likely be destroyed, but you didn't. You stood back and let me and her run." Peter paused and looked at me, sighing slightly and rubbing his forehead. "I know you took the rap for it."_

_"And you return, why?" I questioned, though he had already answered this same question over and over again._

_"To get you the hell out of here, Major….."_

"Why are you thinking about that day again?" Alice mused as she sat down next to me against the tree. "You've not thought about that day in a long time."

Smiling at her, I shrugged my shoulders a little, completely unsure why today I was taking a trip down that lane. Maybe I had just felt the need to reminisce my past today or maybe it had something to do with remembering who I was while having a human in close space to me – my personal space.

"I didn't realise you had the gift of mind reading like our dear brother," I nudged the little black haired woman with a gentle smile and easy tone to my voice.

"I know you all too well !" She stood up and span around in front of me, twirling her dress in front of my eyes that drank her in. "What do you think?"

"I hope it wasn't expensive, as I plan on ripping it to shreds later," Alice giggled at me and shook her head making me frown.

"No. That part of us is coming to an end." She answered with a big grin on her lips.

"So you keep saying, but it's not here yet, is it?" Alice was the one person I would love forever. If for nothing more than the life she brought me to, the peace I felt now and the man I had become.

To everyone, bar our family, we were together, mates, but not to us. We were friends with benefits. We knew. Alice knew when she found me all those years ago, that I was not her mate, but her friend – her best friend. But we have itches, and they need scratching. For many years, our relationship has worked well. We love each other, but its not romantic, we share the same room, only because we don't sleep and it became a pain in my arse when Alice came into my room with a pile of clothing for me to tell her how she looked.

The turn of the year changed things for us. Alice saw 'Him', her mate. I, for one, couldn't be happier for her. While we made each other happy, we didn't at the same time, so to know her mate was on his way to her was fantastic news. She saw bits of him, his face, his smile and would go on and on about him to me. I never once felt any jealously towards him, in fact I couldn't wait to meet him and see Alice be complete.

Though, I don't want him to turn up today, no way. I needed release; I was a man, a horny one at that, and being the only empath in a family with mated couples going at it all the time, made me seriously horny. Unfortunately for me, I caught the trail ends of Emmett and Rosalie in the mists of passion this morning, and was now having a seriously hard time – in more ways than one.

"It's soon! Very soon. I just feel…I don't know. It just seems like soon we, me and you like that won't be happening anymore." She shrugged slightly, "I just wish I knew when!"

"Must be horrid for you, not being able to see and know when." A frustrated groan left her lips making me chuckle.

"You have no idea! God, Jaz, I want to know! Damn it!"

"I know all too well, Alice. Not all of us have the gift to see the future." Alice did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at me.

Alice knew that I would be happy, and would, one day, find my mate. She had laid claim, long before her mate appeared in her visions, that she had seen me happy and with her. She told me she saw us sitting outside, the sun sparkling our skins as we held hands facing each other. Alice never saw her face, but knew she was it for me – whenever it came along.

"Edward has just arrived home with Bella!" Alice suddenly said, clapping happily over the human girl who would be with us this evening. "You've feed haven't you?" I rolled my eyes at her and crossed my ankles. I had no desire to hurry along and see this girl. "I'm just asking!"

"You know I have," I replied, hating that I was weaker than the rest when it came to feeding from Bambi.

Alice had taken to it well, I hadn't. Yes, the feelings from feeding from humans wore me down, but my upbringing into this world was harder and a lot different to hers or the rest of the family's. Bambi was okay, but humans were better and always would be. I worked hard at my restrain, worked hard to make sure I was well feed and therefore unlikely to slip, but yeah…that didn't always work well.

"Let's move! Jaz, come on, I want to go and meet her!" Alice bounced in my face making me chuckle. I couldn't understand why on earth Edward would want to be with a human, nor did I understand how one vampire could possibly be mated to a human. I highly doubted it and placed it all down to our endless teasing and her blood singing to him, though I kept these thoughts to myself.

"It's been a while since I've had dinner brought to me," I joked as I jumped to my feet, earning a hard stare from Alice. "I'm joking Alice. I won't hurt her, I promise." I grinned showing my razor sharp teeth.

"The teeth on that statement says otherwise, darling." I frowned at her, showing my hurt feelings until she caved. "I know you won't."

On the run back to the house, I tried to think of many different things that would get me through the next few hours. Hoping beyond hope, that her stay would be short and it wouldn't be regular. _ And you're a fool to believe it! _My inner voice told me as the house came into view and the feelings from Esme were already on overdrive of happiness.

_'Yey! She'll be here all the time!' _The dreadful thought of myself made me groan inwardly, and wish I could just find the fast forward button and hurry this up.

Coming in from the window at the kitchen, the smell of human hit my nose, making me purr and my mouth fill with venom. _LUNCH! _The thought came through too quick for me to cover and in turn was heard by my brother, who shot me a quick push of warning while moving closer to the human.

"Bella!" Alice chirped, dancing across to the floor towards the human before embracing her in a hug. "You do smell nice." She grinned at the little girl, who looked a little…unsure by Alice's comment. "We're going to be great friends!"

"Don't worry, Jasper, you won't hurt her." Alice soothed, pushing me closer to the girl. Biting back the growl at Alice, I moved slightly closer, wanting to remind Alice that I was not a child and if I wanted to eat the little human I could, with sheer fucking ease.

"Pleasure to meet you," I gritted out. Though it seemed that it was due to the smell of the human, who did smell nice, it was more to do with my anger towards Alice babying me.

"Jasper's our newest vegetarian." Carlisle commented towards Bella. I almost expected her to "Aww" at me, and then have Alice congratulate me for being a good little boy for not attacking the girl. Sometimes it truly sucked being me.

The human girl, or Bella, was soon removed from the kitchen and dragged off upstairs by Edward. Esme and Alice talked about how wonderful it was to have her in the family, and were busy making plans to involve Bella in. Rosalie had grumbled while clearing up the mess she had made by her temper tantrum and had disappeared off to work on her car.

"I got twenty on Eddie losing the V!" Emmett announced, making me chuckle.

"Forty that he still has that V in a years' time." Emmett pondered this for a minute, rubbing his chin, before grinning at me.

"You are so on!" Emmett truly believed he was winning this bet, which was laughable, this was Edward after all. "He won't be able to last that long, Jasper. For a human, she is packing some curves."

"Rose catches ya saying that, and your balls will be hidden somewhere in the North Pole!" I smirked out, catching the unimpressed face from Carlisle and Esme

"Stop betting against your brother," Carlisle said sternly, while Esme smiled at her mate. "Fifty, he gets to second base by prom."

"Carlisle!" Esme warned, while me and Emmett laughed. "You know better and you are the head of the family." She scolded him.

"Yes, dear." He mumbled, looking intensely into her eyes. Wooing her and making her forget that she was mad at him.

"You're so whipped!" Emmett whispered when Esme disappeared out of the room.

"Maybe, but I still have fifty on second base by prom!" He grinned at us.

"CARLISLE!" Esme called, hearing the bets still being placed. Carlisle rolled his eyes and went in search of his mate, before he could continue placing bets with us.

Esme hated us betting, and hated it even more so when the bets involved Edward. He was, without a doubt, her boy. The first born, if you will, even though Edward was here by the time Esme arrived.

Esme was born to be a mother. She couldn't help herself when it came to looking after us. We are completely and utterly able to look after ourselves, but she had to step in, she had to make sure her "Children" were all ready and well taken of. This amused me, more so when the first day of school was coming up and Esme wanted to make sure that we all had nice, clean clothes to wear. Sometimes I think she forgets that we aren't actually children and I, for one, am years older than she is.

But it makes her happy, and if she wants to take the role of washing clothes, and ironing them for me, I sure as hell ain't gonna say no!

Leaving the kitchen, after hearing the human and Edward leave the house through his window and swing through the forest, I left the safe zone. With her not being in the house, I felt I could wander around without the risk of bumping into her, and confusing her for lunch.

Entering the room I shared with Alice, I noticed the almost full contents of her wardrobe, either on the floor or on the bed. Confused by her action, I tried to think if there was some new fashion range coming out, some new season, but couldn't think of one.

"Alice?" I asked, unsure of what could be her reason for removing everything from its place.

_She better not ask me to help her put everything back! _I thought to myself as I read her crazy emotions. She was happy, excited over something and slightly disheartened, though that was only slightly and was being outweighed by determination.

"There's a storm coming!" She answered, never turning to look at me as though it answered my question.

"And that's made you empty the contents of your wardrobe?" I snickered out, pushing her clothing off the chair by the window and watching them hit the floor, followed by her huffing at me. "Ally?" I prodded again, sitting down and picking up my book.

"Don't push them on the floor! They have homes!" She yelled from the depths of her wardrobe. "Baseball, Jaz, Baseball."

"Cool! Its been a while since we've played. But, the clothes?" Fingering the pages of the book, I looked at the door to the walk in wardrobe as Alice walked through, carrying something in her hands.

"Something for Bella to wear, she'll be coming with us." She grinned at me and placed the clothing on the side.

"She's coming with us? To play?" _No, no and no! _I didn't have a problem with the human, honestly, I didn't, but that didn't mean I wanted to spend time with her.

"Yes, well, not to play, but to watch. It's going to be so much fun, Jaz." I rolled my eyes and thought about how much "fun" this won't be for me. "Jasper, please."

"Please what?" I snapped, shutting my book and flinging it on the floor, throwing a full blown strop over the human girl now intruding on our play time. What next? She going to join us when we go on hunting trips too? _She could be the hunt for that! _That she could, I agreed with myself.

"You'll be fine, Jasper. Please try and lighten up on this." Alice sat down by my feet and looked up at me. "I know you're worried about it."

"Ally…I'm just not wanting to spend this amount of time with her, playing human. It's bad enough at school, let alone here." Alice ran her fingers absentmindedly up and down my thighs. "It's harder for me, then anyone else."

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I thought or saw for one minute you would attack her. Have faith in yourself, Jasper, I do."

"You baby sit me." I grumbled out. "I hate it; hate it how I am looked on like the weak one all because I would sooner eat a human then Bambi. Animal lovers would sooner me not eat Bambi!"

"And you do well, Jasper. You've worked hard and you now need to trust yourself and not get thirsty." She smiled at me, "How about you try and get a little closer to Bella," I groaned at the thought, "Listen. Try and get closer to her, you know, talk to her a little bit and get comfy, like at school."

"I don't talk to people at school!"

"You do! I know you do, you talk to that girl in your Science class." Closing my eyes I shook my head.

"She asked me for the time and I told her, that doesn't count as me "talking" to her. Besides, school is one place, this is another thing all together." Alice sighed at me, defeated in her attempts, while I inwardly smile at my victory.

_One to Whitlock!_

Alice lifted her head and looked at me full on. Her lips pouting at me, her eyes awash with venomous tears that would never fall; a small crease on her forehead formed before the sob rattled in her chest.

_Screwed!_

"Ally…Ally, please, don't cry." I soothed, while stroking her cheek. "Ally…"

"She's going to be so important," She sobbed out, "I want you to be part of it too," She cried harder, throwing herself on my lap and burying her head in the crook of my neck.

"I will be; I'm here aren't I?" I rubbed circles on her back, pushing calm and love onto her.

"But…" She sobbed, words catching in her throat. "Jasper…" Sob "Please."

Sighing in defeat, I pulled her closer to me and kissed her head. "I'll make the effort to talk to her, OK? As long as Edward allows it."

"You will?" She asked, pulling back with a bright smile on her face.

"I will, I promise." Alice leaned forward and kissed my lips softly, just once.

"Thank you," Alice said, while she went to move off my lap, but I held onto her and pushed my desire onto her while bringing her closer and attacking her neck. "Jasper…no…" she moaned out, "We've….gotta….get….ready..." She moaned as her fingers weaved into my hair.

"Later," I breathed out, working my hands underneath her top.

"No!" She tried to sound strong as she pulled out of my embrace, but her voice failed. "That can wait." She breathed, composing herself.

"But you just…" She grinned wickedly at me. "I hate you, you played me, and now you won't pay out!" I pouted.

"Not going to work, come on. And remember you promised." She smiled and twirled out the room.

_Game to Cullen! Bitch._

XXXXX

"Give him some credit, Edward." Alice protested at our brother.

"He can't be trusted, Alice, you know his lack of control." Edward stated. There was so much surety in his voice, so much authority that I think he truly believes he is some king.

Personally, all I wanted to do was slap the silly little boy for thinking he was higher than the rest of us. This is Esme and her babying him to a T! My mind was already planning out how to swing in there, slap him senseless before he even registered what was happening.

"Yes he can!" Alice defended. "You need to give him some faith, Edward. You're not perfect, you know!" Alice was working up her very own storm in the living room, while I stood at the top of the stairs listening to the exchange.

"I took out the low lives of this world, not the innocent."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but who made you judge and jury?" Alice snapped back, "You still took a life, just like he did."

"And how many times have we had to move because of me?" The smugness in his voice caused a frustrated growl to come from Alice. "Can't think of any?"

"And we've had to move for reasons other than Jasper. Oh wait a minute, those don't count do they? I've seen nothing, no Jasper losing it and trying to kill her. I'm not saying they spend time alone, I'm saying he is allowed near her, to talk to her with us there." Rolling my eyes, I walked down the stairs as Edward opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw me.

"Carry on, Edward. You know full well I could hear this exchange upstairs, so please don't stop on account of me being in the room." Edward stared at me, "Oh, and before you continue, I'll talk to who I want and when I want, understand?" The authority in my voice outweighed his by miles. Mine left no room for any mis-understanding.

"Keep an eye on him, Alice." Edward demanded in defeat. "I mean it, Alice."

"Yes, yes, alright, sir." She rolled her eyes. "I have fifty-five on them only going as far as holding hands and closed mouthed kisses."

"You've seen that?" Emmett and Carlisle piped up.

"You're taking bets?" Edward said, sounding outrage. "My sex life…"

"Lack of," Emmett cut in.

"Has nothing to do with you. Please keep your bets to yourselves." Picking up the keys to Emmett's jeep, he looked at me, narrowing his eyes while his mind became filled with every sexual position or act I could think of. The utter disgust radiating off him was almost earth shattering and one of my favourite games to play. It must suck to be a mind reader sometimes.

Grinning at him, I said, "We'll see you there, Eddie!"

"It's Edward!" He yelled as he walked through the front door.

Making our way to the playing field, Rose made herself known by how much she detested having Bella join us. I, for one, agreed with her that she shouldn't be here, but for a completely different reason.

Rosalie just didn't like Bella and was convinced that Bella would bring nothing but trouble to the family. She wanted no part in babysitting and thought that Edward was insane for even wanting a human, especially that one.

Bella and Rose were two different people, completely. Rosalie was stunning. Long blonde hair, long legs, the perfect pin up blonde. Bella was normal looking; she was pretty in her own right. There was no makeup to make her look better, no clothing that hugged and pushed all her assets, though they wouldn't go amiss if she did – purely from a man's point of view – she was pretty but, boring with it. And that's not a bad thing.

I could see why Edward liked her, then again I could see why Emmett liked Rose and why Carlisle liked Esme. Bella was still young, and still coming into her own. Her body, nice though it was, was still changing. The womanly curves were still developing in her, and I was pretty sure that once she found herself, she would be stunning. She just needed to find herself, and I was pretty sure that Alice was intending on helping out there.

Alice was already planning shopping trips with the poor girl, I seriously felt sorry for her, and she didn't even know it yet. A shopping trip with Alice is worse than facing a new born army. Alice is relentless, and just keeps going. Every store, every top, jeans, shoe, dress she likes, she tries. It's a full day, and heavy price on the plastic.

"The human girl, what is she going to do?" Rosalie asked as we reached the field. "She can't exactly play with us, can she?"

"She's part of the family, Rose, and the family plays together." Esme told her, much to Rosalie's disgust.

"And she will do what, exactly?" Rosalie pushed again.

"You two could stare in the mirror together?" I suggested, earning a glare from Rose. "Joking, sis, only joking."

"I know you don't want her here, Jasper, so don't pretend you do." She snapped at me.

"True, but not for the same reason. I just don't want to be on alert, that's all." Carlisle looked at me and smiled.

"The fresh air will be good for you, Jasper. You should be able to relax more here than at home." Carlisle reassured. "This is important to Edward, and we all," he looked at Rosalie, "Will play nice and welcome Bella into the family."

"It's important for Edward to get laid, more like." Emmett commented while high fiving me.

"They're coming!" Alice bounced happily.

After Esme and Carlisle, Alice was the most excited to have Bella in our lives. Emmett sat on the fence with it. He wasn't bothered by her being there and thought that if anything, he had another sister to play with and pick on.

A few seconds later Emmett's jeep came into view. Rosalie groaned and whined about the vampire law and how this was way too dangerous, and she didn't want Italy on our door step. Carlisle reminded her that there was nothing happening that could inform Italy of Edward's chosen mate being human. He may have sounded all convincing to the family, but he didn't completely trust his own words.

Carlisle was all too aware that the longer their relationship went on, the greater the risk became, and Bella being changed would need to be seriously talked about. His feelings on her being changed were a mixture of both good and bad. It wasn't a life or death situation, nor was it for any given gain to create another vampire. Bella would be losing her family, and her family would be losing her forever. Though, while he felt bad for those facts, he also embraced the thought of inviting a new daughter into the family and of course, seeing his first son mated.

Bella joined Esme, and seemed to be enjoying herself, though I doubted she could actually see the ball most of the time, and us running was nothing more than a blur to her. Waiting my turn to bat, I walked closer to where Bella and Esme were, smiling slightly at Alice who was watching me closely.

"Having fun, Bella?" I drawled out, trying to show that I was happy she was there.

"Um, yeah, thanks Jasper." She smiled and looked down, blushing slightly. "Esme says you guys cheat."

Lifting an eyebrow, I smirked slightly. "No, we don't cheat, just bend the rules."

"So you admit it?" Esme asked, smiling.

"Nope," I grinned, "I only admitted to bending, you accuse of cheating. There's a difference." Esme rolled her eyes at me, and shook her head, turning her attention back to the game.

"So, Alice is your mate?" Bella asked, catching me slightly off guard. Looking at her, I saw her brown eyes full of a million questions about our life, our history and us.

I wondered what Edward had and hadn't told her, how much did she actually want to know, but Edward wouldn't tell her? She seemed to be giving off no fear or anxiety from either talking to me, or me being this close to her. It was something that confused me. Humans naturally stayed away from us, they sensed the danger we posed, even though they had no idea as to why.

"No, we're not mates, Bella." I could feel her confusion to my answer. Clearly Edward hadn't informed her and left her thinking we were.

"I thought you were. Well, I mean, you seem to be…" She trailed off making me chuckle.

"It's an act we play at school. We're more best friends than anything else." I answered, hoping she would figure this out on her own.

"But you guys share a room together, I don't understand." I raised an eyebrow at her, seeing the cogs working in her brain.

She suddenly felt embarrassed, and looked to the ground. Her feelings continued to jump from wanting to know if she was right in her assumption and her embarrassment of asking the question.

"You can ask, Bella. It's no secret in the family in what we are." I assured her, giving her a slight boost of confidence.

"Friends with benefits?" She asked in a shy voice.

"Yep, we all have itches we need scratching." I grinned as her face turned bright red. "By the way, I got forty that the V's are still intact in a year's time." I winked at her.

"Hey! No fair! No fair!" Emmett cried out. "Mom! Jasper's cheating!" Emmett whined.

"I'm not; I'm just edging my bets!" Seeing the glare coming from Edward, I decided to move away from Bella.

The game continued to play, and Emmett had taken the time to talk to Bella, and inform her of the bet we were currently running. It wasn't like the bet would be null and void. At some point Eddie was gonna lose his V, it was just a matter of when. Bella had taken it in good faith, and laughed, though she was highly embarrassed by the topic.

_And she's now stuck with Emmett. Shame!_

"Stop!" Alice's high pitched cry shot throughout the field. All eyes turned to her for a split second before racing across the field and towards Bella.

Words were being spoken too low for Bella to hear. We were trying to plan a way out of this, without it being noticed that there was a human in the family. Edward was by far freaking out, and not answering any of Bella's questions. Pushing calm towards Bella, Edward decided the best course of action would be for him and her to leave.

_Leave it to Edward to run._

Running was pointless. The three vampires, who were running around town, knew we were here. They had heard us playing and were coming to look, us running would only show we had something to hide, and in turn cause them to come looking for us.

"There's no time, they know we're here." Alice told him.

"Take your hair down," Edward told Bella, in a full blown panic over his mate. I couldn't blame him for panicking, his mate wasn't up to defending herself against our kind, and no man wants to see his mate in danger.

"Like that's going to help. You can smell her across the park." Rosalie snapped out, completely unimpressed that shit was coming our way thanks to Bella.

With a little bit of luck, they wouldn't notice the heartbeat in the group. With the storm in full swing, the heartbeat could be easily misplaced as one from an animal in the surrounding forest. Her smell would be harder to hide.

Placing her at the back of us, we hoped that our own scents would mask hers, and talking about two leaving us to head home, would open up two free spots in the game and maybe we could get away with it. With their minds focused on the ball game, they wouldn't really be paying too much attention to the group of us standing in the field and were eager to play.

Their emotions were buying it, bar one who seemed a little more interested in Bella, but I was putting it down to the intense stare that Edward was sending his way. Edward needed to get to grips with his panic before he blew it and gave it all away.

His emotions were all over the place, jumping around and not settling on anything for too long before jumping to the next. One that he settled on over and over again, was regret.

He knew he had made a mistake bringing Bella here with us today. We were aware of vampires walking through the area, and had been hoping they were just passing through and would soon leave this small town without causing too much damage in the process. None of us had actually thought that maybe they would hear us playing today and we would run into them, so his blame on himself was a little harsh.

Unfortunately for us, the wind blew just as we were breaking up, forcing a nice dose of Bella's scent up James' nostrils. Grouping together, we stood in front of Bella, protecting her with hisses and growls permitting the air around us.

James had his eyes firmly on Bella, plotting his attack, his way to get a hold of Bella. Going off his emotions, he was skilled at fighting, and the thought of taking on a coven of our size thrilled him rather than scared him. Edward's emotions had gone into overload, confirming my own thoughts that James was skilled, and someone who could and would find Bella in his game of hide and seek.

Somehow, the fight never came about, but the threat was still there as we raced back home. My mind was busy planning our course of action and how we should handle this. With James as a tracker, we had to plan this out carefully. Just upping and leaving wouldn't work. We had to confuse him for long enough to get Bella out of town and away from the area before he figured us out.

Carlisle wasn't a fighter. He didn't relish in battle, were as I excelled in it. My years in the Southern wars along with my military training were coming into use once again. The God of war was busy, placing back up plans and different routes in case we needed it. There was no way that running Bella South was going to work; neither was having half the family staying behind to take care Victoria. We needed to make sure that we weren't left without options open to us.

Bella was hurled into the car with me and Alice, and it was given to us that she should travel with us south.

"I don't like this idea." Edward grumbled, wanting to take Bella himself.

"Edward, Bella will be better with me than you." I stated flatly, not having the time to smooth out his wounded ego. "I've had to fight his kind before, and you will be no match for him if he does catch us up."

"You think he will?" He asked, panic rising in his voice.

"It's possible," I answered. "He may not buy our confusion, and instead leave the town hot on our heels."

"Then I'm taking her." Shaking my head at him, I watched the challenge race though his mind.

"If the first plan doesn't go to plan and buy us time, then me being there is better than you being there. I have options in place for all outcomes."

"And they are?" Edward asked as I walked around the car.

"If you need to know them, you will when the time is right. Let's roll!"

* * *

**Reviews would be greatly welcome, cheers.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN/ Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it certainly help calm my fears. :-D**

**I still don't have a beta or a prereader. Someone told me to contact Sparkly red pen, and I did, but I haven't heard anything back from them….And its been a week. If anyone knows anyone or anything that could help me out, I would be very grateful. It honestly seems like I would have more luck shitting rainbows than finding a beta. Are they like gold dust? Lol!**

**Please forgive me for any mistakes I have made. I have read it four times and sent it through Words proofing. (Not the best in the word, I know)**

**I hope you all enjoy the second chapter!**

"Edward, she's flat out." Alice once again stressed to Edward down the phone.

_"Wake her up, please."_ He begged down the phone, making me roll my eyes at him.

Alice sighed deeply down the phone, "Edward, Jasper had to put her under. She worked herself into such a state."

_"He what!"_

"You didn't hear her, or in Jasper's case, have to feel her," she stressed. "She needed to sleep to calm down. Bella will wake up when she's ready and when she does, we'll have her call you." Alice reminded him once again down the phone before hanging up.

Looking at Alice, I watched her search the future once again, looking to see if there was anything that was giving away what was happening. Judging on her face, nothing was clear. Without anything being decided by James, she didn't know.

"He's still buying the trail." She told me with a smile. "Where do we go from here, Jasper?"

"We take her as far as we need to." I muttered, knowing we needed to place Bella somewhere safe before we could turn and fight James. "There is Peter and Charlotte, we could run her there?"

It was my best option, but not ideal. Having two more highly skilled fighters in my ranks, who have faced countless newborns and who I had faced endless battles with was a major plus in my court. Edward would never buy it. Not in a million years would he go for this plan. Having Peter and Charlotte anywhere near Bella would not be a good idea for little Edward.

He would see them as two people who would more than likely kill Bella instead of being on our side. While I saw his point, based purely on the fact that they drank human blood, I knew they wouldn't touch her. He didn't know them the way I did, they were my family and two people I wanted by my side if I was ever to face a battle again.

"He won't like it!" Alice stressed.

"He may have no choice. Bella needs to be safe before we can face him." I replied.

"You speak as though the rest won't be able to take him down." Alice looked at me with question. "What do you know, Jasper?"

"I don't know any more then you do. But I do know that James isn't interested in fighting us, he is interested in Bella. He's a hunter, a highly skilled hunter at that. Which means, he'll have no trouble slipping through the net to get to her."

"You need to buy us time, Jasper. He won't fall for it much longer and we need the rest of family with us."

"I am. I'm trying….." Stopping what I was saying when Alice's face went blank, I waited for her to talk to me, to tell me what she saw.

"He's figured it out!" She cried. "He's leaving Forks and is coming after us."

"Fuck!" Snatching the phone out of Alice's hand before she had time to call Edward, the plan formed in my head. "We split up."

"What?"

"I'll run her to Peter's, you run east of me, carrying Bella's scent. That will buy us time to meet the family. Have them meet me at Peter's." I told her as I pulled the car over to the side of the road. "The double scent will confuse him. He won't know which one is real and which is fake. Take as much of Bella's things as you can to carry a stronger scent. Head East for a while, make as much distance between the two of us as you can. Drop her things and head to Peter's, go by air."

"Edward won't like it." Alice said as she carefully and quickly, swapped clothes with Bella in a blink of an eye.

"No, but we are ahead of him and not far from Peter's, with any luck, the family will meet me at Peter's before he even realises it." Alice stared ahead, searching the future for possible outcomes.

Looking at the sleeping human, I pushed another dose of exhaustion her way, to keep her out longer. The last thing I needed right now was a crying, screaming human while trying to plan out everything. Alice sighed and looked at me and then looked at Bella. I could feel her doubt in me taking her to Peters, and if I was honest, I had the same doubt.

It would be a long time confined in the car with Bella, and the longer I was confined, the more chance I had of slipping up and draining Edward's chosen mate.

"You have to take her, Jasper." Alice stated. She knew as well I did, that if James followed my scent rather than hers, Bella stood a better chance of walking out in one piece and alive than she did with Alice.

"It's not ideal," I muttered, "And you owe me," I grinned at Alice.

"You're seriously thinking of that now? With this going on around us?" Her shock was only slightly masking her own arousal. There was something about the intensity of a fight that became highly arousing for me.

"Yes, and you still owe me," Alice rolled her eyes at me. "What?"

"James has already left town, he's moving and moving fast," Frowning, I checked the time, knowing that we were a good four hours ahead of him. "Edward's going to call in five minutes. Move Jasper," nodding at her, I placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Be careful, Ally." I ordered her opening the car door again and bringing down all the windows. Hoping the fresh air coming in would help me on my quest.

"And you, Major," She winked and took off east of me.

Slamming the car into gear, I sped off towards Peter's house, deciding I would wait to call him until I had spoken to Edward - a phone call I was not looking forward to having. This really was the best option we had open to us. Alice, as much as a good fighter as she is, she isn't a match for someone like James and would rely too much on foreseeing his moves.

Edward would, no doubt, argue that Alice should have taken her, with her being more trusted than me. And while I agree that she is the better person out of the two of us with control, it wasn't just the risk of me slipping up we had to take into consideration. Bella's life was in danger regardless of who took her, the question became who would she more likely survive with, should James run into us. Answer was simple; Me.

While I ran the greater risk of slipping up, and I can admit that, I also ran the better risk of getting the human girl out, in one piece and more importantly alive should things not go to plan. It was a rock and a hard place and this truly was the best choice. I'm sure Bella didn't want to be locked in a car with me any more than I wanted to be locked in a car with her.

My phone buzzed on the dash board, vibrating against the hard plastic as the wind whistled throughout the car, creating a rather cold atmosphere for the human girl. Picking up my phone, I smiled as I saw Peter's name flashing on the screen.

"Peter?" I asked flipping it open and cranking up the heat in the car, in an attempt to try and keep the human girl warm.

"Major, wanna explain to me why me and Charlotte are moving to meet you and some human half way?" Peter asked, confused why he was suddenly moving.

You just had to love Peter. He always knew things and never questioned his gift, only ever following it through. Peter claimed it wasn't a gift, and in many ways it wasn't. It wasn't like Alice's gift, where she could search for things, things just came to Peter. His senses would go haywire and he would follow his instinct. As freaky as he could be, because it wasn't something he saw, more felt, he was never wrong. Never. And is why he lived past his first year mark all those years ago with Maria.

"Long story short, I've got a skilled tracker on my trail, after the human girl. We confused him slightly in Forks to buy us time, now he's figured it out and is on his way to me. Me and Alice have split up, trying to buy more time to have the family meet me at yours." A small groan alerted me that Bella was waking up and was no doubt, cold. "I need clothes Peter, girl clothes."

"Now major, I had no idea that did it for you," he joked down the phone.

"Funny!" I snapped back, feeling the irritation getting to me.

"Char has some," he said softly, "Now the human girl? She's not your human girl, is she?" I growled down the phone to him, completely disgusted that he would even suggest that sort of thing. "Okay, must be Eddie boys then."

"Considering he's single, I would say yes to that." My phone beeped in my ear, letting me know that Edward was trying to call me. "Captain, what's your plan?"

"All I know is me and Char will meet you half way and we'll dump Carlisle car." _That wasn't going to sit well with dad once this was over._ I thought to myself as the car raced smoothly towards Peter.

"Alright. I have Edward coming through on the other line," I told peter, getting annoyed with the beeping in my ear. "Do you know the outcome?"

"He'll catch up and won't buy the ploy the second time around." Peter told me flatly.

"Fuck!" This wasn't what I wanted to hear. "Peter, call Carlisle and bring him up to speed while I talk to Edward. This isn't going to go well."

"I will, see you soon brother." With that he hung up.

Clicking the phone again, I connected the call to Edward. "Edward, listen..."

"Listen? LISTEN?" He screamed down the phone at me. "You have Bella in that car, ALONE!"

"Yes, I know that and trust me it's not ideal but it was my only option." I soothed down the phone, hoping that Edward would detect in my voice that I was being honest with him and he's mate was safe, well as safe as can be.

"I don't like it, Jasper. I didn't want her being in the car with you and Alice, let alone with you alone." _Well thank you very much, brother. _I thought bitterly to myself.

"Edward," I sighed down the phone at him, not in the greatest of moods or mind frames to pander to him. "I assure you that Bella is safe and I will keep her safe. I'll be meeting with Peter and Charlotte soon and hopefully, you and the rest of the family won't be too far behind me."

"Peter and Charlotte?" Edward growled out down the phone. I knew that piece of information wasn't going to sit well with Edward either, but he would just have to trust me.

Edward had made a big song and dance when they came to visit me. He refused to leave Bella's side in case they went looking in town for lunch. Of course, Peter and Charlotte never fed from the town where we were whenever they came to visit, they didn't want to raise any suspicions and blow our cover. Much like how they never fed on their own doorstep where they lived. Edward knew this, but being the over grown child and damn right paranoid fucker he is, convinced himself that it wasn't safe to leave Bella alone and unguarded. Of course, back then, Edward was more stalking Bella than anything else, and I'm pretty sure she had no idea that there was a crazed paranoid vampire named Edward guarding her every move.

"They hurt her..."

He started but I cut him off, "Listen to me, boy," I spat down the phone. My authority ringing through each and every word as a part of me that I had long since stopped being raised its head. "I am in charge of the situation and I am doing something that I personally wish I didn't have to do to make sure that your chance of happiness isn't destroyed by James. You can keep your threats to yourself or Bella will find herself on the side of the road. Alone!" of course, I wouldn't do that. There is no way I could leave the girl to fend for herself; I wasn't brought up that way. But I needed to make Edward realise that Bella would be safe. "Do you understand," I all but growled out.

"Please, Jasper," he pleaded down the phone at me. I couldn't even begin to imagine the sheer turmoil he was going through. Yes, I loved Alice and would do anything to protect her, but it wasn't bonded between us.

"I'll protect her as if she was my own," I soothed to him, "You have my word."

After a few more minutes of idle soothing on my part, I spoke to Carlisle. Peter had already phoned ahead of me and had brought him up to speed on what the plan was. Even after all the soothing and reassuring I had given Edward, I could still hear him bitching and whining to Emmett about how he didn't like this idea.

Carlisle was making his way towards Peter's with Emmett and Edward. Esme and Rosalie had stayed behind to take care of Victoria. I knew I was ahead, but I wasn't sure where James was in the line. Part of me, a huge part of me was hoping that Carlisle would maintain his place at the back, leaving James sandwiched between the two groups. Alice, as far as I knew, was still heading east, but I was sure she would have seen the turn of events and would be racing back my way and with any luck would catch up with Carlisle before they reached me.

That was what I was hoping for, but I knew that to take James down, Peter and Charlotte would have to continue forward past me and meet James head on while the second group came from behind. This was not something I wanted to do. I didn't want Peter and Charlotte racing into a battle that wasn't there's, yet I knew they would have no problem with it. They would do it for me, if not for my family. The problem I faced was Bella. This would mean me having to spend longer with her than I wanted to, but I couldn't place her in the hands of Peter and Charlotte, though I knew she would be safe with either one of them. The feeling of doing that didn't sit well with me, whether it was because of my promise to Edward or I felt she would be better off with me, I wasn't sure. What I was sure of, is that she had to stay with me and I needed to hunt.

"Jasper?" Bella's timid voice broke through the silence of the car. She had been a wake for a while, but hadn't spoken yet.

"Bella," I greeted with a nod in the rear view mirror.

Confusion swept throughout her as she realised that Alice was nowhere to be seen and we were currently flying fast across the desert. No roads, no signs, just sand, sand and more sand. Her red rimmed eyes stared into mine with sheer and utter panic, while she thought up a million different possibility's as to why we were here and where Alice was.

"We've had to change plans, Bella. Please relax, your safe but I have to warn you that were gonna be stuck together for a while." Bella nodded her head at me.

"Where's Alice?" she asked, her voice harsh from sleep and crying.

"Running east last I heard, though I assume she is heading my way now." I smiled in the mirror at her, "Edward is on his way, we have James sandwiched between us. We are gonna be meeting two of my family members in a little while."

"Okay... Where are we?" she asked looking around in hope of seeing something that would give her some idea where we were.

"The desert. We're traveling to meet Peter and Charlotte, who are gonna help us." Bella scratched her hair making me chuckle. "You caught flees?"

"No!" Bella yelled as she climbed over and sat beside me. _Not a great move_. "Does this make you uncomfortable?" she asked, truly concerned for my wellbeing.

"Does it for you?" I asked as she shook her head at me. "If it makes you feel more comfortable, Bella, I don't mind," _You're such a liar!_

"Peter and Charlotte, they're your family?" Bella asked as she tied her hair up. This made it better for me with her hair being up and put the way, it wasn't wafting her scent so strongly towards me.

"Yes, he's my brother. I changed him many years ago and he's my second in command," Bella looked at me confused by my statement, but I decided now was not the right time to tell her my story. "I'll tell ya sometime," I smiled at her.

"I need a human moment." Bella suddenly told me.

Shrugging my shoulders, I was unsure by what she meant by "human moment". Alice had left a bottle of water in the car for her but nothing else. Figuring she meant she wanted something to drink, I pulled the bottle from behind my chair and handed it to her. Bella giggled at me as she took the bottle and placed it on her lap.

"What's funny?" I asked he completely confused by her state of giggles.

"A human moment. I need a wee," she told me through giggles "unless you think I can wee in the bottle?" Even though her embarrassment was there and turning her face bright red, she still continued to giggle at me.

I felt like a fool for not realising what she meant. It's been that long since I was human that you tend to forget these things. Sure, I was aware that she would need to go at some point, it just never accrued to me that she would pick now to need to go.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't realise that's what you meant," I said turning my head away from her and looking back on the road. "Can you hold it?"

"I really need to go," she pleaded with me. "Please."

"Are you sure you can't wait? It would be better if you could, there's nowhere for you to go here and it will leave your scent behind." Bella thought about it for a second.

"I'll try and hold it," she sighed with a small smile. "Peter and Charlotte, are they... I mean do they...um..."

"Do they feed from humans?" I said to her, watching her nod her head out the corner of my eye. "Yes. Their eyes are red, but don't worry, you'll be perfectly safe."

Testing her emotions, I noticed that the new information of them being human drinkers didn't scare Bella like I thought it might. She completely trusted me in what I had just told her. The emotion itself shocked me. She was far, far too trusting and I completely understood where Edward was coming from when he said she had no self-preservation what so ever. She clearly didn't see the danger that we were, instead choosing to see that we were good people who wouldn't hurt her.

On one hand it was nice not to feel as though I wasn't the weak link. The worry that normally came from others regarding me and my control. To have someone, some human girl completely trust that I wasn't about hurt her was something I wasn't used to. I was used to being baby sat by the family, always being watched at school or anywhere where there was a human. Yet, on the other hand I wanted to scream at Bella for being so careless with her life!

Did she have somehow wrong with her, that she clearly didn't see the danger we processed? Surely, something in her mind must register it, and give her some sense of fear? But, as I tested her emotions and felt her fear, her fear wasn't directed at me or Peter and Charlotte, it was directed that someone in the family would get hurt.

"Alice?" I answered flipping my phone open and pressing it to my ear. Bella looked at me all wide eyes and worried at Alice's sudden phone call.

"He didn't take the bait; he's hot on your heels and gaining fast." I she spoke rapidly with the wind rustling down the speaker, "Swap cars with Peter,"

"Why?" I asked, unsure why swapping cars would prove any difference in this.

"You're planning on taking Bella to Peter's and having them move forward to meet James. Swap cars. I don't know why, but I saw you and Bella getting in to Peter's car."

"Okay. Ally?" I asked hoping she would know what question I was about to asks without me asking it.

"You'll be fine, Jaz. Are you thirsty?" she asked happily, showing no sign of being worried over the whole event.

"Not really, but the smell..." I trailed off, "I just don't want any slip ups," I confessed to her.

"You won't slip, I know you won't. Have faith, Jasper. I'll see you soon," She whispered.

"Be careful," I muttered to her, feeling Bella's eyes on me.

Hanging up from Alice, I chucked the phone on the dash board and began scanning the area for Peter. It wouldn't be that much longer until he came into view. I felt slightly better regarding my restrain after speaking to Alice, I already knew how much Alice loved her in such a short space of time, that she wouldn't tell me everything would be okay unless she truly believed and hadn't seen any slip ups. Of course, just because she hasn't seen it, doesn't mean it won't happen.

Bella rested the back of her heard against the frame of the door, looking at me. The sun was now high in the sky and I was sparkling like a disco ball. Thank God we were driving across the desert and not on any main roads. Out the corner of my eye, I could see her trailing her eyes over me, almost mesmerised over the sparkling skin.

The weight of her stare made me feel a little uncomfortable. More so, I was aware that she would notice the different with my skin sparkling compared to Edward's. Though human eyes couldn't see them, unless placed under a lamp, you could tell there was something there with how the skin sparkled in the sun light. Thousands of scars married my skin from my time in the Southern wars. There wasn't much of me that wasn't scared, and while I had long ago not been bothered by it, I didn't like being stared at when I knew they could be detected.

The scars ran up my arms, across my shoulders, down my chest, up my neck and across my jaw. My face hadn't gotten away cleanly either. Scars covered my face too, granted, not nearly as much as the rest of me, but they were there. One scar I hated the most, was one that cut through my bottom lip and chin. A new born had gotten a lucky bite in, before his life ended. It hurt like a bitch, just like the rest, but that was one I really hated.

My scars where a threat to many new vampire that met me. They didn't have to hear my name to be afraid of me, the scars alone told them I wasn't someone to fuck with, and then added to my name? I was one of the most feared vampires on the planet.

I wondered how many Bella could see, and if she knew what they were. Her curiosity spiked from time to time but she never asked. She had already figured that they were connected to what told her earlier, but she wanted to know more. It wasn't something I wanted to share with her, and I personally think Edward would have a fit if I told her now.

"Jasper?" Bella asked me, slightly wary.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," she said with a small smile.

"For?" I wondered, turning my head to look at her.

"Doing this. Risking your own life for me," The sincerity in her voice warmed me slightly_. Did she really think she wasn't worth it?_

"You're welcome Bella," I answered her feeling her feelings of not being worth all this fuss. "You're wrong you know, you are worth it, and you're part of the family."

"Rosalie doesn't think so." I couldn't help but chuckle over her comment.

"Rose... She's not as bad as you think, trust me." I winked at her, wondering if one day she and Rosalie would find some understanding with each other.

"I'm just sorry that I'm causing all this...if Edward would just..." she trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.

"Turn you? Is that where you're heading with this?" she nodded her head at me, sniffling gently. "Is it something you've spoken about?"

"Yes and no. It's just... With all this, if I wasn't human then..."

"None of this would happen, right?" I finished for her clocking Peters car coming into view. "Peter and Charlotte are here,"

"Where?" Bella asked, her head whipping around in all directions looking for them.

Unable to stop myself, I chuckled at her as she continued to look and squint her eyes into the distance. Of course her eye sight wasn't strong enough to see them just yet, but she will in a few minutes. "Look dead ahead. Can you see the dust coming up into the air?" I asked her. "Really look Bella,"

"Just about. Can you see their car?" she asked turning to look at me.

"Yes, you'll see it in a few minutes, but the dust is them. Anything in this car you want? Get it now; we won't have time to mess around." I ordered her, she jumped slightly at my tone, "Sorry, I'm planning ahead."

"It's okay," she smiled at me, "Will I be able to wee then?"

Fuck! I had forgotten that she needed to go and I was secretly hoping that she would have forgotten too. "Um, give me five minutes after the cross over, okay? I promise I will stop the car for you."

"Thanks Jasper,"

Slamming the breaks on, the car skidded across the sand, coming to a stop facing the other direction, with Peters matching the same as mine, facing the way he had just come. Bella's heart was racing loud and clear, but I didn't stop to make sure she was alright. In honestly, it had slipped my mind as I pulled the stunt that she was human.

To my surprise and joy, Bella climbed out the car the moment I opened my door. Peter and Charlotte exited their car, leaving the engine run in the same as I had done.

"Major," Peter said to me, "Ma'am," he tipped his head to Bella.

"Captain, this is Bella. Carlisle is on James' heels," I told him, climbing into Peter's car. "I'm not sure how long it will take you to come across James, but with any luck he'll be nicely sandwiched in."

"He will be, this will be easy." Peter smirked, "Clothes are in the back of the car for Bella, and they should fit better than Alice's."

"Thanks Peter,"

"We'll see you back at the house. Be safe." Peter grinned.

"There's food at the house for, Bella. Peter made me buy some last week, though we didn't know why," she chuckled "It's lovely to meet you, Bella," Charlotte seemed actually taken by Bella.

Charlotte missed female company from time to time, she was always happy to come see me and have the chance to go shopping with the women in the Cullen household and basically have a gossip. It was easy to see that Charlotte had accepted Bella into the fold and was looking forward to having a chat with her when they returned.

The same stood for Peter. He seemed relatively at ease with Bella, not showing any signs of looking at her as lunch, though here was a strange sense of him being unsure around him with her. It was almost like he was trying to work something out with her, or he knew something about her and couldn't put his finger on it.

"And you," Bella answers timidly.

Shooting off towards Peter's house, I watched in the rear view mirror until their car became out of sight. Clocking the time, I worked out that we should be arriving at Peter's house in about two hours.

Looking over at Bella, I smiled at her and rolled the windows down, needing the fresh air to dilute her scent as much as possible. Surprisingly, my thirst was okay, and I didn't feel hungry, though, it would be a good idea to hunt as soon as possible. Bella's scent did burn the back of my throat, but it was no more different to the burn I would feel at school, and then the humans weren't as close as Bella was to me now.

"There are clothes on the back seat if you want to change, Bella," Bella looked at the clothes and then back at me, "I won't look, if that's what you're worried about."

"I still need my wee, Jasper," she whispered to me, almost scared to actually remind me again. She didn't need to remind me, I knew she needed to go and I was trying to see somewhere for her to go. Somewhere where she could hold some level privacy.

"I know, darlin'," I grinned at her, trying to reassure her that she didn't need to be afraid to ask me. "There isn't anywhere where there is much privacy, I'm afraid. The best I can off is behind the back of the car."

"It's fine, I just really need to go, badly," Her brown eyes pleaded at me, as the feeling of discomfort swam around me.

Stopping the car, I looked at Bella, "Be quick, we don't have much time. And if you're gonna change, you've gotta do it while we're moving."

"Okay!" She said, sounding more relieved than anything else.

In a flash, Bella was out the car door and around the back of the car. She moved that fast that I was sure she would end up flat on her face, but surprisingly she managed to stay up right. _Maybe she isn't as clumsy as she thinks, _I thought to myself as I heard her groan in relief at finally being able to go.

My mind cast over to Edward, and wondered whether they had run into James. He hadn't been on the phone yet, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Edward would be close to having kittens over Bella being in my care, and with the threat of James now looming and him having to face him instead of having Bella in his care, I found it odd that he hadn't called since the changeover. Then again, I hadn't called either. I knew that no one would call me unless there was a sudden change of plan or something had happened. Alice would be checking the future at any given moment and if she saw anything, she would call, the same for Peter if his gift suddenly went haywire on him.

Still, with Bella being his mate, I would have thought he would have called. Granted, he could be in battle with James, but there was only one of him and a handful of us. It was hardly going to be a battle.

My mind drifted to Alice. I wondered where she was and if she had caught up with the rest of the family yet. My time with Alice was running out, and while I would be completely happy to see her happy, bonded and mated, I would miss her. The thought of not having sex on tap didn't sit well with me. I wanted it on tap, I liked having it on tap and with my tap being cut off, I now had to find a new one….Or find my mate.

That was something that bothered me. Finding my own mate. How would they perceive me? Mates don't see the outer shell of the body, they don't see any scars or disfigurements you might have, they see your soul in your eyes and it's done. Finding your mate, means looking into their eyes and feeling everything all at once shift and turn and knowing that they are it. Your rock, your grounding, your support, the one person who can calm you down in a heartbeat and bring you peace.

My problem? They have to see past the scars to get to the eyes. A lot of vampires when they see me won't make eye contact with me for fear of what I might do. Females more so than males. So, if finding your mate is all in the contact of eyes, how do I find mine? How do I get her to look me in the eye and see it? I had no answer to that and neither did Alice. All she could tell me is that I would find her and she had seen me happy with her.

"Finished?" I asked as Bella climbed back in the car. Embarrassment flooded her as I brought it to her attention that I knew exactly what she had been doing. "No need to feel embarrassed, Bella. I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable."

"I know. It's just…Well, strange." She answered as we set off again. "Can I wait to change?"

"Of course you can, I just assumed you might like to get in something that fitted better, Alice is… A little short." I chuckled seeing the jeans she was wearing looking more like cropped jeans.

"Has Edward called?" She asked. Her voice all hopeful and happy as she spoke, I felt bad shaking my head at her and seeing her face fall slightly before she composed herself. "Oh, I'm sure he will once he knows something," she said, trying more to convince herself then me.

Bella's feelings showed she was anything but convincing; in fact she was hurt that he hadn't been in touch with her sooner. I couldn't l blame her for feeling like that. She loved Edward, and wanted to know, more than anything else, that he was okay.

This was something I didn't understand with the human/vampire mating. There wasn't that look into the eyes and everything locked place like what normally happens. So how did Edward know that she was his mate? Carlisle had said that maybe the pull was there for him, just not as strong as it should be and that he has recognised the slight signs.

Still, the only pull I ever saw or felt from Edward, was the one for her blood singing to him. That had a great appeal to him, that and the silent mind from her. Had it been more the fact that her blood had sung to him and her mind was silent that had brought on their relationship and somewhere, somehow, Edward had taken it as them being mated?

There was no doubt that he loved her. He did, truly he did. But how can their relationship seriously work? I wasn't the only one that wondered it, though no one had voiced it. We hadn't really seen them interact with each other to really know how they worked, so it was too soon to judge.


End file.
